Big Dipper

The role of the Big Dipper, -- called the drinking gourd by slaves in their quest for emancipation, will be chronicled in "Follow the Drinking Gourd: Stars of Freedom," an original production of the Maryland Science Center's Davis Planetarium that begins Saturday. The show will run until March 7.Pub Date: 1/12/97

You can frequently catch a glimpse of the International Space Station flying overhead, but rarely is a Baltimore native aboard. There are several good opportunities to see the orbiter zipping across the night sky this week. On a clear night, the space station appears like a star, only brighter, and moving steadily across the sky. Here is where and when to look: Monday night at 10:41 p.m., look to the southwest horizon. The space station will pass by the "Big Dipper" around 10:45 as it reaches its highest point in the sky, and it will set in the northeast about 10:49 p.m. Tuesday night, the space station will pass directly overhead, rising in the southwest at 9:52 p.m., reaching the center of the sky about 9:56, and setting in the northeast at 10 p.m. Wednesday morning it will again pass directly overhead, but this time from northwest to southeast, from 4:22 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. If that's a bit early for you, it will appear again Wednesday night, rising in the southwest about 9:03 p.m., passing the reddish-tinted planet Mars before reaching its highest point, toward the southeastern sky, about 9:07 p.m. and setting in the northeast about 9:11 p.m. Friday night, look to the southwest at 9:02 p.m. The space station will pass the "Big Dipper" a few minutes later and set in the northeast about 9:10 p.m. It should be bright enough to see even in the city, though it's always best to look somewhere away from urban light pollution.

By FRANK ROYLANCE and FRANK ROYLANCE,frank.roylance@baltsun.com | March 6, 2009

Space cadets! Up early with the dog? Watch the International Space Station as it flies 220 miles over Baltimore early Saturday. It will rise in the northwest at 5:36 a.m., as bright as Venus, pass the Big Dipper and soar directly overhead at 5:39 a.m. From there, it slides off to the southeast, disappearing at 5:42 a.m. Please pick up after your pet.

April and May are the best time of year for the northern hemisphere to see Saturn in the night sky , and Sunday night is the best night of all. That's because the ringed planet is at what astronomers call opposition, with Earth directly between it and the sun. That means the planet is at its brightest . Telescope users can get a particularly nice view of Saturn's rings. It will appear at nightfall in the eastern sky, and can be found by following the curve in the handle of the Big Dipper.

Some starry night, with the Big Dipperabove you, follow its handle downto the Herdsman, the constellation ofthe oxen driver, some call himthe hunter,that ranges across the sky.There, hanging in the hem of his robeis Arcturus, a runaway star,golden yellow in the northern sky,a hundred times more brilliantthan our sun,that blazing comets have not dimmed.

Space Cadets! With luck, skies will clear enough tonight to reveal the International Space Station as it cruises high over Baltimore. Grab the kids and watch for a bright, steady, starlike object rising briskly above the southwestern horizon at 9:30 p.m. It will climb just to the right of closely paired Saturn and Regulus and be high overhead by 9:33 p.m. Station and crew will then zip through the Big Dipper and skip off toward the northeast, vanishing there...

April and May are the best time of year for the northern hemisphere to see Saturn in the night sky , and Sunday night is the best night of all. That's because the ringed planet is at what astronomers call opposition, with Earth directly between it and the sun. That means the planet is at its brightest . Telescope users can get a particularly nice view of Saturn's rings. It will appear at nightfall in the eastern sky, and can be found by following the curve in the handle of the Big Dipper.

THE February issue of Sky & Telescope magazine offered a fascinating bit of folklore to coincide with Black History Month.Writer Gloria D. Rall analyzed the lyrics of the traditional Negro spiritual, "Follow the Drinking Gourd," to show that "in pre-Civil War America, escaping slaves learned elementary astronomy, journeyed toward the Big Dipper and made their way to freedom."Ms. Rall writes that the true meaning of the song was not discovered until 1918, because the slaves were taught from childhood to carefully conceal their knowledge of observational astronomy.

By FRANK ROYLANCE and FRANK ROYLANCE,frank.roylance@baltsun.com | May 24, 2009

Attention, Space Cadets! Clouds might interfere, but if we get lucky, watch for a very bright International Space Station on Monday evening as it passes directly over Baltimore. Look for it to rise above the northwest horizon at 10:05 p.m. and pass right through the cup of the Big Dipper. It will climb nearly to the zenith (straight up) by 10:08, then vanish into the Earth's shadow a few seconds later.

Three comets are poised on our celestial doorstep this week, and backyard astronomers are trying not to be seduced by predictions that all three could become as easy to see as the Big Dipper. "The vast majority of these comets are a lot of fizzle," said Joe Rao, a Space.com columnist and lecturer at the Hayden Planetarium in New York. All the same, he said, "it's an exciting time for those people who especially like comets." The last time Marylanders had a chance to see a naked-eye comet was in 1997, when Hale-Bopp became visible even in light-polluted urban areas.

By Bev Bennett and Bev Bennett,Los Angeles Times Syndicate | March 10, 1999

In a great advance in cooking convenience, you now can buy potato shells in the frozen-food section of your supermarket. No more scrubbing, baking or scooping.But this luxury comes at a price. A frozen potato skin is at least triple the cost of a whole potato. What's more, if you rely on prepared products, you'll never learn the simple art of baking a potato -- a skill everyone should have.So, before you rush to your supermarket freezer case, try baking a couple of potatoes. Use the flesh for mashed potatoes or potato soup, and use the shells as dippers for a tangy salsa and a gutsy, garlicky Tzatziki Sauce.